Perfect Ruin (Unyielding #2)(81)

But it was the absence of kindness in his eyes that destroyed me. It was why he’d joined the JTF2, an elite anti-terrorism unit. Why he was the most incredible brother. Why he visited schools and orphanages when he was on tour. Why he was Connor. He may have been cocky and full of himself, but his heart had been filled with compassion and love, helping kids like Tanner who had nothing. Tanner who had betrayed him. Betrayed us both.

There was nothing left of that Connor. There were physically identifiable pieces of him, but what made up who my brother was had vanished.

My gaze darted to Kai. “Get your hands off me,” I shouted. “This is your fault.” I didn’t recognize my own agonized voice as I tried to push past Kai, but his grip on me only tightened.

I never thought I’d do it because despite knowing Kai for years, he still scared me. But so much rage surfaced that I couldn’t control it.

I hauled off and punched him in the face. I knew he’d seen it coming by the way he tensed just before my fist made contact with his jaw. I also knew he could’ve avoided it, but he let me hit him.

“You did this to him. This is your fault you son-of-a-bitch. You destroyed him.” I pounded on his chest while Kai stood unmoving. “He was good, damn it. He was good. He was good.” And now that was gone.

My vision blurred from the tears and I no longer knew who I was punching and trying to hurt until I heard Deck’s whispered words against my ear, his arms wrapped around me.

“Baby. Shh, we’ll get him back.”

I shook my head back and forth against his chest. “He’ll never be the same.”

“No. He won’t. But he’s still your brother. He’s alive and that means there’s a chance.”

Deck had never lied to me. No matter if it hurt, he was honest, and that gave me a sliver of hope because he believed we’d find Connor within that cold, ravaged monster chained to the wall.

“Kai,” Deck said. “Give him the sedative. We’re leaving.” He picked me up in his arms. I closed my eyes, my head against his chest and he carried me back up the stairs. Without stopping, we went to the car.





WE TOOK TWO vehicles to the airport then boarded Tristan’s jet to fly to New York. Deck had spoken quietly to three customs officers and since he shook their hands and patted one on the back, I was guessing he knew them.

Tristan’s private plane had wide leather seats that swiveled, a bar and a flat screen television. I sat beside Kai. Vic sat facing me with Deck beside him, two round tables separated us. Vic had already carried the sedated Connor onto the plane and Georgie stayed with him.

Chess was about to sit across the aisle from me, but Tristan finished speaking with the pilot and walked toward her and he didn’t stop walking when he grabbed her hand.

“We’ll be in the back room,” Tristan said. “Don’t disturb us even if the plane goes down.”

“Tristan? what are you—?” Chess started.

He leaned in to her and whispered something. I couldn’t see Chess’s face but did see her elbow him in the gut. He didn’t seem to notice and kept ushering her to the back of the plane.

“I hear them moaning, we’re going to have a problem,” Kai said.

I smiled. It was odd seeing Kai with a sister, but then it was odd seeing him with Deck and his men.

Vic, who never smiled and was built like a tree trunk on steroids, had his eyes on me and I shifted uncomfortably in my seat. Finally, he said, “You’re different. Better.”

Yeah, because he’d only seen me as Raven, a girl broken and numb. In a way, I’d been like Connor: a machine that did what I was supposed to except his was mostly drug induced, mine had been a way to protect my mind from what I’d endured.

Once we were in the air it was all business.

Deck placed what looked like a journal on the table and nodded to Kai who picked it up and flipped through the pages.

“What’s this?” Kai asked.

“Connor’s journal. There are pages ripped out. Looks like five of them in a row. He wrote in it sporadically, so no pattern to it. But according to Georgie the days missing were before they met Tanner. Need you to confirm this.”

Kai opened the journal and flipped to the spot where it was obvious pages were torn out. “Looks about right. I was assigned to Georgie after Connor was taken, but Tanner was earlier to befriend them.”

“Why Connor though?”

Kai said, “Anything to do with Connor was confidential. I kept eyes on Georgie and Tanner.”

Deck chin-lifted to the journal. “We’ve gone over it numerous times and found nothing useful or unusual. You read it. Might give us a new perspective, catch something we might not have. He talks about ordinary shit. Missing home. His family. Georgie. The deplorable conditions children lived in that we encountered on our missions. I’ve already looked in to all the places Connor was during the time frames where the pages were torn out,” Deck stated and I was getting that Deck was the type of guy who didn’t leave any stones unturned. “Most of which were overseas.”

“Maybe you’re searching where there is nothing. Torn pages in a journal doesn’t necessarily mean anything.” Kai shrugged then tucked the small leather-bound book in his back pocket. “I’ll look.”

“And maybe you haven’t told us everything we need to f*ckin’ know.” Deck glared at Kai who merely leaned back in his seat, pushed his legs out and crossed his ankles. “Keeping secrets and lies are your specialty.”